The present invention concerns an operating unit for an injection molding machine having the features of a classifying portion, and an injection molding machine having such an operating unit.
It has been the standard for some time for the operating units of injection molding machines to be equipped with touch-sensitive display screens. As an example, mention is to be made of the Austrian patent application bearing the filing No A 851/2011 to the present applicant, which is not a prior publication.
Operation by means of a touch-sensitive display screen admittedly affords obvious advantages, but the structure disclosed in the above patent application is worthy of improvement. As the space on the touch-sensitive display screen is limited, the above-mentioned application provides that the keys or buttons for menu control are arranged separately outside the display screen. That makes fluent operation difficult as it is in fact always necessary to look for the correct button and the operator is not intuitively guided to his aim, as would be possible in the case of menu control by means of a touch display. The obvious measure of simply integrating the buttons for menu control on the touch-sensitive display screen is not appropriate as a high degree of susceptibility to error would occur for reasons of space.